EcoWaste Coalition is a public interest network of community, church, school, environmental and health groups pursuing sustainable solutions
to waste, climate change and chemical issues facing the Philippines and the world.

Banned Jiaoli and S'Zitang products sold at a store located at Angel Chavez Complex, Cogon.

Banned Jiaoli and S'Zitang products sold at another store located at Angel Chavez Complex, Cogon.

The EcoWaste Coalition has appealed to the
Department of Health (DOH) in Region 10 to initiate a crackdown on the unlawful
sale of dangerous skin lightening cosmetics laden with mercury, a highly toxic
chemical, that are defiantly sold in Cagayan de Oro City (CDO).

The non-profit environmental and health group based in Quezon City notified DOH
Regional Director Dr. Nimfa B. Torrizo through an e-mail last Saturdayabout the unrestrained
sale of skin whitening creams in CDO that are among those already banned by the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to their high mercury content.

The same letter was also furnished to the offices of DOH Secretary
Francisco Duque III, FDA Director General Nela Charade Puno, and FDA CCRR Director
Ana Trinidad Rivera.

To protect consumers from being harmed by mercury in cosmetics, the EcoWaste
Coalition advised DOH-Region 10 to take immediate action to stop the
all-out sale of mercury-contaminated skin whitening products in CDO.

“We urge your office to conduct rapid post-market surveillance in CDO and other
major cities in Northern Mindanao and to
prosecute the violators to the full extent of the law, including padlocking
stores caught in flagrante delicto,” wrote Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety
Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.

A team from the EcoWaste Coalition was in CDO last week for the historic
meeting hosted by the Bureau of Customs-Region 10 to discuss the repatriation
of the 6,500 tons of mixed garbage stranded in Tagoloan to its origin in PyeongtaekCity
in South Korea.

“Our team then took the opportunity to conduct a quick market investigation to
determine if skin whitening cosmetics, particularly facial creams banned by the
FDA, are sold in CDO,” Dizon said.

“Much to our shock, we found several imported skin whitening cosmetics banned
by the FDA openly and unashamedly being sold by retailers engaged in the sale
of beauty and herbal products, as well as Chinese medicines, especially in
Cogon,” he said.

Upon the team’s return to Manila,
the products were screened for mercury using a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence
(XRF) chemicals analyzer.

All 18 products, illegally imported from China
and Indonesia,
were found contaminated with mercury above the allowable limit of 1
ppm. Collagen Plus Vit E had the highest concentration of mercury at
6,020 ppm.

According to the FDA: “adverse health effects brought about by
highly toxic mercury in cosmetics products include kidney damage, skin rashes,
skin discoloration and scarring,” adding that “chronic use reduces the skin’s
normal resistance against bacterial and fungal infections.”

Other health effects of mercury exposure through the use of skin whitening
cosmetics include anxiety, depression or psychosis and peripheral neuropathy.
“The transfer of mercury to fetuses of pregnant women may manifest as
neurodevelopment deficits later in life,” the FDA said.

“To protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic releases of
mercury and mercury compounds,” governments, including the Philippines,
signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury in October 2013.

This treaty, among other provisions, has set a global phase-out target by 2020
for cosmetics, including skin lightening creams and soaps, with mercury content
above 1 ppm.

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is a public interest network of community, church, school, environmental and health groups pursuing sustainable solutions to waste, climate change and chemical issues facing the Philippines and the world.